Simple Pleasures
by giansar
Summary: For centuries vampires have been attempting to overcome their genetically ensured depressions. Now two vampires believe one girl could be their salvation and key to eternal happiness, but she has no idea of their problem and can only save one of them.
1. prologue

**Simple Pleasures**

**Disclaimer:** I am not gaining anything from this story except, hopefully, the pleasure of knowing that I have made at least one person happy while reading this. No disrespect or negative commentary is intended towards anyone who has a claim to Harry Potter, or anyone else really.

**Prologue**

Vampires are often seen as sensual creatures. Commonly described as beings of extraordinary beauty, grace and elegance whom also possess a compelling character and charisma, vampires have a mysterious and deadly nature which serves to lend strength to their beautiful and erotic image. Like a lion chasing antelope across the Savanna or a dragon swooping down on unsuspecting cattle, the image of a vampire stalking its prey is often glorified and imbued with false romantic connotations, a powerful being filled with grace and focused intensity, moving untouched and untouchable across the earth.

The truths concerning vampires are far less picturesque or ideal. Vampires are the undead and their appearance reflects that. A vampire continues to inhabit the body that they had lived, and died, in. Due to the constant state of depression that has taken root before their conversion, a vampire rarely takes care of their true physical appearance. This lack of maintenance results in dull, greasy hair and yellow teeth. Their skin is taunt and to hide this state, a vampire will rarely expose their skin to the sun resulting in the myth that they can not enter the sunlight. Furthermore, the depression that manifests in the initiation of their conversion often results in self-mutilation, the evidence of which is not often cleaned away.

The rumors of unearthly beauty, however, are not unfounded. At the time of human death several advantages are rooted into the vampire's body. Vampires possess powerful glamour and the ability to form extremely realistic illusions, as well as enhanced balance, speed and strength. In order to catch its prey a vampire will stalk it's intended victim until it has formulated an idea of it's victim preference in a companion. Once the idea of a companion has formulated the vampire will change into the preferred physical image and initiate a relationship. Once a sense of trust is established the vampire will use the relationship to lure it's prey to a suitable killing ground. Once sated the vampire often disposes of the body in a way which will deflect suspicion and move on.

Yet with every advantage that is gifted upon a creature, so too is a disadvantage. When a population has the means to gain advantage over all in the environment, that creature is doomed to near extinction or total annihilation. Thus all creatures have a limiting factor to maintain the population and ecosystem. The limiting factors concerning vampires is contained within it's reproductive ritual. A vampire requires very specific circumstances in order to convert a human and many of these factors are outside of the vampires control. In order to become a vampire a human must be unknowingly approached by a vampire and discover a common bond, it is only at this point that the human may be informed that their partner is undead.

Once a bond is established and acknowledged blood must be exchanged three times under the darkness of the new moon. The first exchange of blood must be ingested by both partners at the same time and consist of a quantity exceeding 100 milligrams. The second exchange is also ingested simultaneously and must consist of a quantity exceeding 200 milligrams. The third exchange requires a minimum of five milligrams to enter the human's blood stream at the same time that the human sheds five milligrams of the vampire's blood from a different wound and while the vampire ingests ten milligrams of blood from the human. To complete the conversion the human must then take their own life on the night of the first full moon following the third exchange of blood.

The necessity of suicide ensures that the human feels great amounts of depressing emotions and negative conscious and subconscious thoughts. As the body shuts down these negative emotions and thoughts become more prominent. At the moment of death a choice to live or die is offered. In order to become a vampire the human must make the choice of live despite the depression.

At this point only a minority of the brain and the vampire blood circulating in the bloodstream continue to survive in the body. When the choice to live is made the vampire blood begin to salvage what can be repaired in the body, typically this involves only the most basic aspects of the nervous system, respiratory system and circulatory system, the senses of hearing, sight and smell and the production of adrenaline and depressants. As all other aspects of the body are dead though preserved in their current state those aspects of the body that exist are enhanced to compensate resulting in the physical superiority of vampires and immunity to many physical attacks. Although the respiratory and circulatory system work the blood they carry mostly contains dead cells, the gases brought into the lungs are not absorbed but exhaled making it unnecessary for the vampire to breathe.

Despite the fact that the majority of its body is dead, vampires are clearly still capable of conscious thoughts. The newly formed vampire will maintain standard human thought patterns and consequently maintain most aspects of human behavior including the desire to alleviate their depression and find happiness in their new life. Often their sponsor vampire will introduce the newly undead to the temporary high of human blood which is rich in endorphins and/or adrenaline depending on the method of hunt and giving rise to the myth that vampires require human blood to survive. Some vampires, completely dissatisfied with their human life, immerse themselves completely in the mythology surrounding vampires, fulfilling all muggle expectations concerning vampires.

Some vampires attempt to use potions, spells or muggle medicines to combat the depression, however the changes caused by the conversions ensure that these remedies are not effective. Ultimately most vampires look for happiness through intangible means, they try to find their happiness in other people or in the completions of tasks they started and the fulfillment of goals they set. Most sponsor vampires have converted a human to vampire in an effort to get closer to the converted person and find the happiness expected to be shared in soul mates. When the efforts at happiness are not fulfilled with the person as a human it is believed to be because the human can not fully understand them. When the human is turned to a vampire the couple will tend to remain together for a brief time but still can not become truly happy. After two years most vampire sponsors and progeny will separate and search independently for their happiness.

However, as humans are social creatures, so too are vampires. In an effort to find their happiness only a very few documented vampires will choose a life of isolation. In order to find a soul mate or finish your life's tasks, you must remain around people connected to your goal. A vampire can easily hide in a congregation of wizards, witches or muggles, uncommented upon and rarely noticed unless they wish to be. Vampires are secretive creatures and in the little true documentation concerning vampires there has never been a mention of a vampire achieving his goal of true happiness.


	2. chapter one

I am flattered that I received such a fast response and thought that a fast update was only fair in return. No matter how fast you review I will not update this fast again. A great number of reviews might do the trick again. I would like to warn everyone that the story starts with plenty of angst and if you don't like reading the thoughts of someone suffering from depression you should find something else. Think about the intro for 'An Unfortunate Series of Events. I actually think I will have better luck finding a beta here, so if anyone wants to beta this story please send me a private email with your offer to help. My email is one my personal profile. Your first task as a beta will be to find out if I have the right year for this story to be set in the trio's seventh year. Everyone who is still reading, enjoy.

_I have not read Half Blood Prince and have no intention to do so therefore the book does not have any impact in this story._

**Disclaimer: **Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Ron, Draco Malfoy and Galleons are the invention of Joanne Rowling. I am not asking for, nor will I accept, any money as a result of this venture. Just pretend anything else that is meant to be in a disclaimer to make this legal is there.

**Chapter One**

31st August 1997

So it is now another new school year, anther new journal and another nine months of school to suffer through. How that must shock any one who reads this journal, Hermione Granger feels that she must suffer through school instead of enjoying it to the utter most. Why people can't just see that school is habit and tests simply a chance to prove ourselves, I really don't know. I suppose it is because I hide my feelings, I created my fantasy world and scrimped and saved so I could escape into books when that world collapsed. Then, when I begin to grow and realize that I could not be a princess stolen away in the middle of the night and my real parents will come to save me, I also receive a note that I am really a witch and that I can go to boarding school, (an unachievable fantasy for the past four years), to learn magic.

My, when I think back to how happy I was, my fantasy world could well be real, I could have loving parents somewhere who believed I was dead and who had never stopped mourning me. There would be fairies and pixies and unicorns and I could live happily ever after. I took all the money I had saved, babysitting for three years, birthday money and Christmas money. I sold all my toys and a lot of my clothes and any books that I felt I could live without. My heart broke the day I brought my books to the second-hand book store, I had begged and pleaded for those books, it was almost impossible for an eight year old to gain any real amount of cash and even then I read thick novels, more expensive still then standard children books. They were my salvation but I still parted with them, trying to reach a new, tangible salvation.

Eventually, my room almost bare and all my savings collected together I made my way to London to buy my equipment and books. By the end of the day I found myself broke but almost deliriously happy, the glimpse of the wizarding world I had achieved had fulfilled all my expectations, I would be getting my happy ending when I had almost believed it was forever out of my reach! After a single night on the streets as I could not get home then back to London the next day I was on my way to fairy land.

Remaining honest with myself, I doubt I could have gone home anyway, my parents would never have allowed me to go to boarding school. I was their excuse to fight, their nurse when they got too drunk and their punching bag when they were stressed and my other parent was not around. I still can't believe that every one believed me when I said my parents were dentists. I mean with teeth like those? Even if they wouldn't allow me to charm them, (like I would know how?) they would place my teeth in braces at the first sign of trouble. My parents are an embarrassment and that is simply that.

Even with my first few weeks at school, making my fabrications of a happy home life, telling the story over and over in my head until I almost believed it was real and ignoring the scorn that was directed upon me from every other student I came across, despite the harsh realities of the world, I was still the happiest I had ever been. I was surrounded by other children my own age and I believed that a few could be my friends, I had not been hit, no one had yelled at me or over me, blaming me for all the ills of the world. I was almost happy. Then Harry and Ron brought it tumbling down with those cruel worlds.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her, she's a nightmare, honestly." She was a nightmare, a pain. No one could stand her, not her parents, not her new teachers, not her peers or any other student. The fairies would never accept her, she would always be alone. 'Outside the great big house, standing in the cold and snow, with my face pressed against the window marveling at the warmth and delights yet knowing I would never be invited in.'

But I was invited in, that very day Harry and Ron, the cause of my realization that I would always be an outcast, had invited me into the house. For years I had thought I had full reign of the premises, I thought I had been completed accepted by all except those outcasts that were not accepted by the rest. I thought those outcasts simply resented me because I had been accepted and they were still in the snow. Now I know I was wrong. I had been taken out of the snow but I was restricted to the foyer. I was not accepted and I never would be, I was tolerated and used, treated as a guard dog would be, kept for as long as I was useful but if I inconvenienced my masters I would be cast aside in a heart beat.

Unfortunately I still have not simply resigned myself to my fate, I still hold onto hope that this year will be better. Though this year I have a reason to hope and I have allowed my hope to grow and brighten me. This year the Headmaster has a plan that will place me above a standard student, I have more power then I would have as Head Girl and I am much less of a step below the Professors of the school. Professor Dumbledore has started a Teaching Support Program aimed at providing the 'less gifted' OWL and NEWT students with, obviously, more support in those subjects they are having trouble in whilst providing those students with better then average gifts in their subjects a chance to revise their basic skills and gain experience in teaching. In short, the highest scoring NEWT teachers in each of the classes offered will be giving tutorials to students who are failing. Each tutorial will have a core group of students whom attendance is mandatory and if there is room some students can elect to go to particular sessions if they feel the need.

The classes are limited to ten students from a combination of OWL and NEWT levels so the Student Professor will be able to learn to maintain order from a smaller amount of students. During these sessions the Student Professor will have the same authority as a standard Professor including the ability to dock points but the point deduction must be confirmed by the Headmaster before the change can take effect. We also must attend a weekly meeting with the real Professor of the subject we undertake the tutorial for and we must submit reports outlining our methods of teaching and an analysis of our core students' faults and progress in the subject. I will be paid for my troubles, I will get five Galleons for each term of tutorial sessions, pretty good when you have been surviving on baby-sitting money.

I wonder how many students rejected the offer despite the money purely because of the amount of work required. Harry would have been asked to assist for DADA but will probably turn it down due to the work, I suspect that Draco Malfoy would be asked and I find myself unable to predict his response. I haven't been informed of what my subject will be, the letter simply advised me the formation and commencement of the program and that I was being considered from a position. They outlined the responsibilities and privileges then asked me to reply. I of course accepted and began revising all my subjects which I could be considered for, ultimately everything except DADA, though if Harry did refuse I may still stand a chance for that position as well.

I do know the folly of getting my hopes up, I did the same when I found out that I was becoming a prefect and look how that turned out. If this year is as bad as the last I am beginning to be doubtful that I will survive for much longer. Perhaps that is why I am allowing my hopes to soar, so that when I come crashing down the fall out will be strong enough to take away all the pain forever. I guess we will see what happens.


	3. chapter two

This chapter was completed a while ago but I had to find an appropriate name. I have not yet found a beta, please help. Thank you to Rageful Jewel for telling me the right year. If any one finds other errors please tell me and I will fix them. One deliberate mistake is that the fall of Grindelward occurred about six hundred years earlier. In other words, Flamel was born in the resulting baby boom and Grindelward is ancient history.

17th August 1985

Most people have an annual day of mourning. Many do not realise it. They just think they are unhappy or angry for no real reason or they believe it is because of current events. They do not realise that they feel bad every year on this day and if the feeling is random it must have a more current cause.

The real reason is, of course, that they are mourning a person or event that they believe they have put behind them. Some people do not even realise that there has been an event that has affected them so deeply. This is the case for most of the wizarding world. The effects of the fall of Grindelward have continued to be felt long past the time that the event was forgotten. Parents taught children that they should feel bad on this day; they hush them and rebuke them. The children feel the tension in their parents and responded becoming withdrawn and sad themselves. Eventually they became accustomed to the tradition of being quiet and withdrawn and hush and rebuke their children in turn. It became a cycle, based purely on subconscious instinct and therefore unlikely to ever be broken.

If I could, I would celebrate on this subconscious day of mourning. I would celebrate every day. Every person I have ever met who deserves to be mourned has been the type of person who celebrated life and wanted everyone who knew them to celebrate with them. It is fitting that we celebrate their memory rather then mar those memories with our grief. That was a lesson hard learned and one I doubt I will ever forget.

I knew most of the task force that heralded the end of Grindelward. I was part of their clique, though I stood on the edge and was not as close as the main core was. Despite the fact that I was almost a hanger-on and sycophant, our leader Deaglan came by my house the night before the big show-down.

"We have a new plan that I am almost certain will work."

He was almost abrupt when he said it. I remained silent; I could not understand why he was here telling me.

"We plan to make Albus our focus; it should be the safest place for him as I know we cannot keep him away."

I was intensely curious, I had not privy to any of the plans the task force conducted.

"It is good of you to care for Albus. He is still young inside."

"I know we spend little time with you Daemon. Our group was sadly established before we met you and we couldn't open for you. I am sorry about that. I know that I have no right to ask this of you, but I have seen you watch out for Albus and the rest of us may not be here to do that.

"You are right, Albus is young still. He will be older after tomorrow but he will still need guidance. If we don't make it, please look after him."

"But you will survive; I have not met anyone stronger then you and the others." I sounded plaintive; I couldn't picture life without the task force.

"I will of course do my best but Daemon, you must realise, this is war and in war people die. If I die, if any of the task force dies, I don't want you to mourn. You are too sad Daemon; it is your stumbling block. The circle celebrates life and that is what we want to be remembered for.

"What is the point of fighting for freedom when the people you freed are too depressed to enjoy their freedom? They simply exchange physical chains for emotional ones. Promise me Daemon, two things."

"What two things?"

"Promise me that you will care for Albus. That you will protect him and guide him for as long as you are able."

"I promise to look after Albus in whatever ways I am able to for as long as I am able to." I affirmed.

"Promise not to mourn for any one of us, whenever we die, whether it is today, tomorrow or two hundred years from now. Remember our lives and what we achieved. To the well organised mind, death is but the next great adventure."

"I cannot. I will not be able to stop myself from missing you."

"You can miss me; I am flattered that you feel you must. But there is a difference between missing me and Mourning me. If you are to help Albus you must help yourself. You must move on, past this time of your life.

"If we survive I will work harder to make you accepted and we can move on together but if I do not survive you must move past me. Please promise me Daemon. Promise me."

"I promise not to actively mourn you. I promise to celebrate your life."

"Thank you. Could you stay close to Albus tomorrow? The rest of us will not be near the battle and I would feel better if you were near Albus."

I felt a bit hurt that Deaglan was only concerned about Dumbledore but proud that he thought I could protect the boy. Of course Albus told me Deaglan wanted me to share the protection cast over him. Sometimes I doubt it but Deaglan had always been kind to me and since he trusted me to keep Albus physically safe he likely knew I was well capable to keep myself physically, if not emotionally safe.

Regardless of my conflicted emotions I added another promise to my night, promising to keep as close to Albus as I could without interfering. Satisfied Deaglan left and I never saw him or the others, except Albus as promised, again.

I mourned him, I told him I would not be able to prevent it, but I did not seek anger or grief and when I caught myself in the throes of deepest mourning I did as I said I would and thought of the times we were together, rejoicing in life and ignorant of death. I thought of my promises and how I must keep myself together in order to fulfill them, but those thoughts were not enough.


	4. Chapter three

Okay, the lack of reviews for the last chapter was depressing, yet I decided to post this anyway. I had planned to write the rest of the story in the form of letters and diary entries (ultimately the story would become a book written by Hermione and Severus chronicling their journey to happiness), but it seems to me that people don't like that. This chapter will be in third person and I'll see how that goes.

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own any characters in this chapter, nor do I own St. Mungo or the Wolfsbane Potion.

1st September 1997

Hermione slid into the train compartment with an unusually somber expression. She had had a particularly bad night and had not had time to produce her usual happy façade. Luckily she knew that most people would not notice or chalk it up to a small fight with Harry and Ron. She managed to produce a smile when she saw all the people in the compartment. Harry had agreed to a posting and was standing in a corner watching everyone and nodding occasionally at what Ernie Macmillan was saying to him. Draco had been invited and was confronting Neville. Blaise Zabini was talking to Pansy Parkinson kept glancing to where Terry Boot and Susan Bones were talking in another corner. Finally Hannah Abbot, Lisa Turpin and Lavender were talking and giggling near the center of the compartment, all in all it was an interesting combination of students to represent the apparent best and brightest of Hogwarts. Hermione made her way to Harry's corner and waited for him to acknowledge her.

"Hi." Short, almost curt and with no warmth what so-ever.

"I had hoped that you would wait for me so we could come here together."

"The note said to come straight here. Can you believe that Draco was invited here!"

"He is pretty good at potions, brilliant actually."

"Because Snape favors him." Harry was clearly annoyed.

"Draco knows his work, he always finishes within five minutes of me and his potions are always as good as mine, sometimes they are better. In fact, I've seen him deliver potions, in his own potion bottles, to the infirmary no doubt Madam Pomfrey uses them instead of ordering her supplies from St. Mungo's or the apothecary."

"She actually uses potions that the ferret made on students!" His voice easily carried across the compartment.. Many of the conversations stilled for a moment but Malfoy said nothing so they resumed.

"Harry really, you need to set a better example, we are practically teachers now." Hermione hissed.

"He's the son of a Death Eater Hermione. He shouldn't be allowed back at the school let alone allowed to teach in it."

"Since when has the sins of the father become enough to convict the son? Draco is guilty of being an arrogant prick and nothing else. He is brilliant at Potions and perfectly capable of teaching it to remedial students."

"He hexed and jinxed us and tried to get us expelled! He should not be allowed back."

"Harry, really, you did the same. You have tried to hex Draco numerous times, you broke into the Slytherin common room to spy on him and any time you may have been expelled you were in the situation of your own accord."

"His father is a Death Eater!" They were attracting attention again.

"His father may be but he isn't!" Hermione yelled back. If he wanted the attention she was going to make sure that the others learned his lesson as well.

"He is probably going to end up a murderer, just like his father."

"He deserves the chance to make his own decision about that rather then having it thrust upon by no fault of his own, and denying him a chance he clearly deserves is thrusting the 'dark side' upon him. Furthermore, you forget that one of your closest friends whose death your mourned for **months** was almost a murderer. Who almost killed a fellow students in his sixth year and tried to kill one of his friends only three years later. You never even questioned his morality or whether he deserved your love."

"Sirius never tried to kill Snape and even if he had died it would have been good riddance, just like if he had killed Pettigrew!" Everyone was listening intensely now though neither Harry nor Snape noticed both too involved in their argument. Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall were standing just outside the door but were remaining silent, waiting to see if Hermione could get through to Harry.

"Good Riddance! Proffessor Snape saved your life on several occasions and went into a situation he was probably terrified off attempting to save your life as well. Could you atleast attempt to understand that fact."

"Sirius would never try to kill me and Snape just wanted to give Sirius to the dementors. He didn't care about us."

"**Professor **Snape knew that Remus had not had his Wolfbanes Potion and could turn into a werewolf. Last time he went to the Shrieking Shack in a similar situation he could have died. He would have been terrified. He also though he would be facing a murderer obsessed with killing you, if he wanted you dead as you seem to believe then he would of waited for reinforcements from the ministry and let Sirius kill you first. **And** you seem to be forgetting your first year when Quirall tried to kill you with the jinxed broom. You suspected him of jinxing the broom instead."

"You thought he was as well and he might have been the one who jinxed it anyway, we don't know for sure!"

"Then why would he referee the next match? He never refereed a match before and he hasn't again since! He did it because he wanted to ensure that no one tried the same trick again and to be there if you needed help because some one did jinx you!"

"Or he wanted to make us lose the game." Harry had gotten a bit quieter but more savage.

"If he wanted to make us lose, he would have refereed more games. In favor of his saving you, there is also the fact that he taught you occulmency."

"And made it bloody difficult for me. I dreamed more after I started studying with him then I did before I started."

"You wanted to dream Harry. You never cleared your mind like you were meant to and you kept trying to open that blasted door. If you had done what you were meant to Sirius would still be alive!"

Even Hermione knew she had gone too far. The room went deathly quite, even those who were completely lost and confused about what the couple were arguing about recognized that Hermione had just accused Harry of inadvertently killing someone. It was like the situation with Cedric all over again. Eventually Harry started to speak again.

"If Snape had listened to me, Sirius would have survived. I may have made mistakes but he made worse ones."

Professor Dumbledore chose that time to enter the compartment.

"Good morning children. I'm sure you are all excited about this marvelous new opportunity and rest assured each of you have well deserved this. I am sure you have all taken the time to read the rules and guidelines sent out last night and are now anxious to find out what subject you will be tutoring so let me just get out my list and tell you."

Professor McGonagall handed the Headmaster a list.

"Ahh yes, here we are. Miss Abbot you will be covering Muggle Studies, Miss Bones, you have Charms, Mr. Boot you will have Care of Magical Creatures. Miss Brown, you will be tutoring Divination. Now, since we have a fair number of people experiencing trouble with History of Magic, Miss Granger and Miss Turpin will be sharing that responsibility. Mr. Longbottom, you will be tutoring Herbology, Mr. Macmillan will be assisting in Transfiguration, Mr. Malfoy you are assisting in Potions and I wish to speak with you after we are done here. Miss Parkinson, you will be helping students with Astronomy, Mr. Potter, you are helping students in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Mr. Zabini you are helping students with Ancient Runes.

"Now, it is important that you learn to prepare yourself so I expect you to take this time to perfect your ideas for your teaching strategies. We will meet again after the opening feast and you can present your strategies and talk to the professor of your subject. I'll see you then. And Miss Granger, could you please speak to Professor McGonagall in the next compartment."


	5. Chapter four

This is the reworked version of chapter five, hopefully it is an improvement. If you read the old version of this please tell me if this is better. I still don't own any of the characters, do we really need to put a disclaimer on each chapter. Surely it would be global news if J.K.R actually gave up her rights to Harry Potter and so on. Enjoy.

**Chapter four**

Most people would say that Hermione Granger was without guile. She had formulated that pose when she was barely five and had become a fluent reader. It was rare that Hermione was ever thankful to her parents but she loved that her father had enrolled her in a school when she had just turned four. She had Matilda for just that reason but she did not have an evil headmistress or a Miss Honey as her teacher. She did have the same talent for reading but would prefer to read fairy tales and myths and legends from the cultures all around the world rather the Dickens any day.

In fairy tales it was the innocent and naïve princesses that got prince. It was the cute and sheltered village girls who had the hidden intellect that sprung the bad guys' plans and got rewarded for their help. The only people who had ever seen evidence of Hermione's deceitful side was Harry, Ron, Rita Sketter and Professor Umbridge. Umbridge was completely discredited, Rita was under powerful blackmail and was completely terrified of her, not that the boys knew that. And the boys, well they rarely thought about the deceit in Hermione, it occurred to rarely and only came out to help them, so it couldn't be bad.

Deceit was as much a part of the school Hermione as it was in the true Hermione; school Hermione just hid it better. Either way, it was easy for Hermione to focus her mind on finding a way out of the mess she had just caused in front of her Headmaster and deputy Headmistress. A dozen options appeared instantly in her mind and she worked like lightning playing the possible results of each option in her mind and evaluating the different aspects. Within two minutes she had her strategy and contingency plans ordered in her mind and she was beginning to project the appropriate emotions. If Hermione found herself unable to get a job in the wizarding world she knew she would do well as a general or actress.

Hermione waited until everyone left the room before she left herself. It was an aspect of her true personality that she could not repress and she doubted that anyone noticed. She would always lead the class by at least a double arm length or would be at the tail of the class, she could not stand having someone within hand reach of her back. Anyway, waiting let her judge the emotions of the rest of her classmates as they filed out of the door. There wasn't much to watch, everyone except Harry was displaying the same emotion: shock. Harry, no surprise, was angry and swept out even before the Professors.

Once everyone had left Hermione started to move forward. It almost scared her that these false emotions spread so easily across her face and yet she felt none of them for much of the time. Lately feelings, both physical and emotional, were a dull and fleeting occurrence. She had not been angry at Harry, it was too hard to summon that strong an emotion, she had been merely annoyed. She had not been touched at the shelter, most of the children had been abused physically or sexually, you simply did not touch them and they did not touch you. Lack of physical contact or friendly communication had worked their toll on Hermione and the truth was always the best type of lie.

Deception did not start and end with words. To truly fool a person you must consider tone of voice, facial expression, tension of the body and the movement of your body, both slight shifting and deliberate actions. One of the most important aspects of everyday lying is controlling the eyes. Most muggles know the saying that the eyes are the window to the soul. To a wizard the saying is true, particularly to a person who is a legilimens like Professor Dumbledore. Hermione had spent many hours in the library thinking about, and researching, occulmency and legilimency. She had come to the conclusion that legilimency was primarily a visualisation technique and had formulated a defence based on that understanding. Her shield had not been tested but she had raised it anytime she came into contact with the Headmaster. It provided her with entertainment whilst he talked about rather trivial information.

While she slowly left the room Hermione raised her shield, called up remorse and utmost sadness and let it direct her body's movement. School Hermione was uncertain and submissive when it came to teachers. She needed to start off sad and wait for her teacher to trigger self-righteous anger. Her shoulders were hunched, her cheeks were flushed, she was frowning and walked hesitantly.

Upon arriving at the next door and finding it was closed despite the fact that her Professor was obviously expecting her, Hermione hesitantly knocked and assessed her posture. Opening the door when she was bid to enter Hermione mentally steeled herself without moving a single muscle and let the game begin.

One of humanities common ancestors must have found that the center of an area was always the best place to stand when holding the attention of a person or people who stood at the edge of the area. He or she must have passed the knowledge to his descendants as Hermione had noticed the tendency in many of her fellow classmates in all her years of schooling. It was a tendency she indulged in herself so she automatically stopped in the middle of the compartment physically facing her Professor and Headmaster but with her head bowed to avoid eye contact. She was certain her facial features would not give her away but it was always best to err on the side of caution.

"Professor McGonagall, Headmaster." She began. Her tone was low and obviously upset but she would not initiate the conversation. Intel was essential in any confrontation.

"Miss Granger, I must say I am very disappointed in you. That was a completely inappropriate way for any student to act and as a Student Professor you are held to much higher standard making it even more inappropriate. You are meant to be setting an example not yelling at your fellow students and making unfounded accusations."

"Harry was making accusations as well, he accused Draco Malfoy of being a follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and said Malfoy should be in Azkaban. I was simply defending my fellow student."

Hermione hadn't looked up and still sounded sad. She wasn't being defiant but did sound injured by the Headmasters rebuke and anger.

"Allowances must be made for Harry. He has had a very hard time lately, he still hasn't dealt with the death of his Godfather, and your remarks will not have helped."

"I have had a hard time too, my parents have been fighting and I had to stay at home. My muggle friends won't talk to me and I didn't hear from Harry and Ron all summer. I was feeling so alone and Harry was so cold to me when I came up to him. All the isolation made me so angry at him and his remarks about Malfoy was the last straw. I didn't mean to yell at Harry, I really didn't, but Malfoy isn't a bad person and most of the people in that room would follow Harry's lead. Draco doesn't deserve to have all those people turn completely against them."

"You should have more control Miss Granger. You may be having trouble at home but that is no excuse for shouting at another student and making unfounded accusations about them. I am certain that your friends did not mean to ignore you and it is not an acceptable reason to behave in the manner that you did. I expect you to apologise to Harry before the opening feast."

Professor Dumbledore seemed to have completely ignored the information that Harry had done pretty much the same thing that Hermione had herself. She expected no better from him but it had crushed her hope that this would be a good year.

"Of course Professor. I will do my best to be complete control of my actions for the reminder of the school year. I am sorry for my actions."

She would apologise and he would yell at her again, too angry at being shown up in front of his followers to easily forgive her. Then he would calm down, realise how much help he would need to keep up with the demands of the year and would apologise for yelling at her again, expecting her apologise again herself and just reenter the group and take over the homework again. Worse again she would have to do that, she didn't want to be without even the semblance of friends. Being alone made the silence scream, being surrounded and alone inside made the silence bearable. She would demean herself and reenter the circle, anything was better then being truly alone. But first she would let Harry simmer and lose herself in her thoughts.

"Very good Miss Granger, why don't you go and prepare yourself for the school year. I am sure it will be most satisfying for you.


	6. Chapter five

Well, I think this chapter is a definite improvement over the last but please remember that I haven't been writing in a few months and am still out of practice. I haven't had the chance to go over the last chapter as I didn't want to wreak the small roll I achieved in this own. I still own nothing and have less then AU$18 in my bank account so it's not worth while to sue me.

THIS CHAPTER HAS LOW LEVEL SWEARING SO IF YOU ARE EXTRA SENSATIVE STOP READING THIS STORY, IT GETS WORSE.

**Chapter five**

_Surprise POV:_

As pathetic as humans are, they are gifted with a strange amount of sense. With only the smallest morsel of a truth and following the most bewildering and convoluted logic path, they can grasp the most profound facts and simple truths of life. They search for most of their mature lives for that one meaning of life and miss the simplest explanation. There is no meaning to a life; there is simply the accumulation of those life truths. Many mortals have realized that when you live forever, you are going to be lonely most of the time. They realize that those you love are going to die and those around you will resent you as they grow old and you stay young. When you become immortal you lose your connection to life and those contained within it, bound to it and kept away from you. Even when you change those you loved in life, immortality changes you, you grow apart and become alone.

It takes something powerful to overcome the change of mortality and bind two people together for eternity and there, mortals again have found a simple truth. Love conquers time and space and joins two people together forever. The trouble then is what happens when one vessel of that love dies and the other lives forever. Love can not die, it can be hidden, or be misplaced but it is always there and death can not remove it. So if you follow on those most twisting, winding and complicated paths that is truly straight forward logic it is clear that as the love can not be killed then the vessels for the love can not be killed.

My love for Annona keeps her spirit alive but she is bound to mortal vessels. I must find her in her vessel and change her to an immortal so I can keep her with me forever. I believe I may have found her but I have been fooled so many times in the past. I have found a similar vessel and hoped but it is never Annona, they are all lacking in her passion, her grace, her sense of righteousness. I will be more careful checking this vessel. I will test her before I raise my hope and dare to believe this is my Annona returned to me. Only true love will allow the vessel to survive the testing in any case.

_Hermione's POV_

My main memories of my life before Hogwarts pass by in a swirl of cartoon and book characters, theme songs, sound effects and book names and authors. That is mostly because each morning and late at night I would sneak down to the living room and watch cartoons or music videos. When my parents were fighting downstairs I would take out a book I borrowed from the library and read in my room.

Whichever situation I was in I would need to maintain a awareness of the environment around me, particularly my parents. If I was called I would need to be there almost instantly or would need to bandaged up after my parents got through with me. It was a painful lesson but one I learnt well. By the time I was seven I was able to lose myself in whatever I was doing but still be aware of my environment, even when I no longer feared missing a summons I would still maintain that awareness. I will always know who is in the room and sense when another person enters.

The only person in the entire school who has a chance of sneaking up on me is Professor Snape and it is rare that he makes enough of an effort to do so. These children have no survival techniques what-so-ever and the Professors need to brush up on their skills as well. Still, that ever present awareness means I can allow these wandering thoughts and still know the instant someone stops outside my compartment and starts to open the door. I have that small amount of time to assess the situation and act accordingly. I draw a bottle of water out of my bag and wet my handkerchief then wipe my face as the door slides open and Draco Malfoy steps in.

"Granger"

His voice holds the customary contempt and his face instantly resumes its customary sneer. Most people would accept that but I am more used to looking below the surface. My parents were generally all smiles and hugs one moment then, half the time, belting the crap out of me the next. I had to learn which half it was or my hesitation would cause a worse beating when they had been in a fairly good mood. Malfoy had the facial features but did not have the emotions or intents underneath. It may be why Professor Snape actually likes him and willingly teaches him. It is clear that if Draco grew a backbone he would be on the side of light.

"Malfoy"

I reply. I sound a bit sharp but also embarrassed. I just defended Draco and it is likely he merely wants to disabuse me of any notion I may have that he is good or else to try to use me for his own purposes based on the fact that I clearly fancy him and think he is actually good. It is most likely the second as he sits directly opposite me and tries to look alluring.

"I wanted to thank you for defending me earlier. I know I have done much which would warrant your dislike and I find it gratifying that despite my past actions you still think somewhat well of me."

"I do not think well of you Malfoy. I merely know that Harry was wrong. From what I have heard of your father he is unlikely to buy you grades therefore your grades are the result of your hard work. You are good at Potions and deserve to be a tutor if you can control yourself with the younger students and those of other houses. As we have no current evidence of bad behavior we must assume you will be a decent teacher. It is merely knowledge and logic, not like."

"You defended me against Potters accusations that I am like my father. You have no knowledge on which to build your logic off for that and yet you defended me."

This is almost starting to be fun. I always enjoyed debating and there are few in Hogwarts who would be suitable to debate against. Most of those with the knowledge and truly logical mind were in Ravenclaw and were too involved in school work to bother with recreational debate.

"I have history as my base of knowledge Malfoy. There are many bad men, or men perceived to be bad, in both muggle and wizarding history. Children are never the same as their parents, some are better in character and some are worse. The worst I have ever seen you do, Malfoy, is call students by bad names and use childish hexes whose results are more embarrassing then purposely dangerous. It is the hexes which are most telling and I have never witnessed you doing worse then Harry himself has done. If your character is inevitably evil then, in all likelihood, so is Harrys."

"I wonder what he would say if he heard you say that?"

"The same thing he said when I told Professor McGonagall that his broom may be jinxed, absolutely nothing until I was proved right and he needed help for his homework. With the demands of this new program that is likely to happen sooner rather then later."

"Surely you have more trust in your little friends then that. I mean, I know Potty and Weasel are idiotic gits without an original thought in any of their heads but you have always supported them, why is that changing now?

"You know, you are asking an awful lot of questions and I am not getting anything in return. You might want to start making this worth my while if you intend to get any more information from this little session. Perhaps offering some information of your own?"

"I do not need to offer anything to a little mudblood like you!"

"And I do not need to talk to a little inbreed pureblood like you. Yet I am doing it anyway, for another few seconds anyway."

Draco sighed, he must be desperate and so was probably under orders. Probably needed to destabilize the golden trio and weaken Harry's support group.

"I have been talking to Professor Snape. He is my godfather and often invites me to spend a few weeks of the summer holiday with him. He discussed you with me a few times. A muggle born who is top of most of her classes and who masters most spells within minutes. Muggles have almost destroyed the wizarding world and are destabilising our culture but muggleborns and half-bloods are not our enemies and causing civil war is most certainly not going to help. As important as tradition is, some change is necessary to prevent a society from becoming stagnant and eventually destroyed by a more progressive and somewhat advanced society."

Malfoy sounded resigned and practically recited the end of his speech but it was a step in the right direction. Hermione knew Draco had a brain but he simply wasn't used to using it with the exception of for schoolwork. Hogwarts was a lot like olden muggle schools. You were made to memorise information but were not encouraged to actually think. There was only one right way to do something and you were either right or wrong. It was a wonder that there was actually a department for spell formation, it must be a skill taught after school.

"Are you under orders to get this information and is this information going to anyone, whether you are under orders or not?"

It was blunt but I had an explanation for my current behaviour so I could exchange personalities a couple of times before anyone got suspicious. Harry and Ron had really served me well by ignoring me for so long; it was almost a relief to exert a new personality for a while before becoming a doormat again.

"Answer for an answer?"

"Why not, but you answer first."

"I am not under 'orders' to speak to you. I am meant to make life difficult for Harry and have been asked to for the past few years. I will tell my father this year that I intend to discourage Harry by causing problems with you. Your little outburst will be all over the school by the welcoming feast and the fact that you were defending me is likely to be the main fuel for these rumors. It will get back to my father and so I do not see a reason why I should not use it to my advantage. I will not give details focusing my recount on the answer you give for my question. Why aren't you supporting the escapades of Potty and Weasel anymore?"

"They are just so frustrating at the moment. They did not write to me once these holidays. I didn't get invited to the Weasley's like I have since the end of first year. I didn't even get a thank you note for the birthday present I sent Harry. They didn't meet me at the station and Harry wasn't exactly pleasant even before I started defending you. How much offence can be interpretated in 'hi'. I was speaking normally so it wasn't something in my tone and I don't think it was body language."

"Potter is an arrogant bastard. He is to self absorbed to actually care about you and with the events of the ministry and the increased publicity he probably forgot all about you. It is harsh but in no way your fault."

"That doesn't explain how harsh he was when I said hello."

"He was feeling guilty because seeing you would have reminded him how he forgot you. Being friendly and understanding was like rubbing salt in the wound and he lashed out. Being vindictive and yelling at him would of done the same thing but staying calm and making him yell at you would have given you the crowds support and helped to discredit him. A few tears would also have helped."

"That would have been somewhat dishonest. I'm not sure I could have done it."

"I know you have been dishonest. You have broken rules and lied to teachers, I suspect you are quiet adept at it."

Now this was a difficult situation. If Draco was bluffing and she confirmed she would be giving him dangerous information and potential blackmail material but if she lied convincingly and he had actual information then she was giving away her abilities. Luckily she was spared the need to answer by the door sliding open yet again.


	7. Chapter six

Hi again. I feel evil so I am not going to post again until I finally get a beta or four reviews in one day. Easter brings out the worst in me. I am happy with the reviews I have gotten, I noticed some new names since my email has turned against me and I need to the reviews page in order to read them. I also seem to have lost reviewers which is probably my fault since I don't update regularly or frequently.

Anyway, my legal situation has not changed since yesterday, I still don't own anything. Love you all, even if you don't review. Happy Easter if that is your thing.

**Chapter six**

Children are often described as angelic, it is part of their defense mechanisms. There are comparatively few people in the world who would purposely hurt a small child as most see the small, fragile and **innocent **persons as precious and perfect, needing the highest amount of protection. When children grow older and taller they seem less fragile and grow less innocent, they are no longer angels but merely humans.

Some manage to avoid this, they hold onto the air of fragility and innocence, some are compared to angels merely because they maintain the exact right kind of perfection. Draco is sometimes called a dark angel because he is believed to hold a dark nature within a perfect body.

When Adam first stepped into the compartment, the first thought Hermione had was that he did seem like an angel. He did not have Draco's physical light beauty, Hermione did not find Draco physically attractive anyway, no Adam had a dark beauty. Shoulder length black hair, sapphire blue eyes with specks of emeralds and a clear complexion that seemed masculine but without the sharp angles that were normally on an adult males face. And despite being their age, Adam definitely seemed adult.

He was dressed in black which made him seem as pale as Professor Snape and Malfoy but no where near as unhealthy. The cloth looked soft and loose without being baggy and there was a hint of metallic blue sparkling in the shirt. Best of all his was tall, he was smiling showing sparkling white teeth which Draco and Professor Snape were both lacking and he had impeccable timing. He was almost definitely angelic.

"Hi, I'm Adam and I'm new to Hogwarts. The other carriages are rather full or the people are rather rude so I was wondering if I could sit with you here?"

He even had a rather pleasant voice. A bit deep and very melodic, he was probably a singer.

"We are having a private conversation, go away."

It seemed that Draco had realised that he was going to have some competition with his sex god status and was trying to dominate Adam already. There might be some fun in this year after all. Adam's smile had slipped but he didn't back away.

"Don't be silly Malfoy. We agreed on an answer each, not multiples. It would be rude to make Adam sit by himself and he seems interesting already. Come on in."

This was going to be very fun.

"Thank you, you are very kind." Adam came in and sank gracefully on the bench next to Draco. The contrast was amazing and very unfavourable on Draco.

"So, you seem very tall for a first year, very mature too."

Adam laughed. "That was very subtle. Whilst this will be my first year at Hogwarts, I will be in the seventh form. I was privately tutored for the past six years, my parents are famous muggles and the press would have noticed if I disappeared before now. However this world is now part of my life and I wanted to experience it as most wizarding teenagers do. I helped my parents arrange a cover now I am of age and can go about the world by myself."

"Are you 21? You don't look it and surely you are too old to actually learn at Hogwarts. Not to mention not being a teenager."

"I'm 18. My parents are English as was my tutor so I get my accent from them. My tutor knows Professor Dumbledore so he arranged things so I can go to Hogwarts."

"Have you any wizarding blood at all?"

Draco had decided to actually enter the conversation. He sounded disgusted with Adam and had managed to hide all traces of his jealousy. It was a pretty decent acting job.

"Only a single great grand-uncle. His name was Deaglan Baker. After he was found to be a wizard he cut himself off most of the family and until I got my letter we had all thought he ws just a fairy tale created as a bedtime story. Actually, my parents thought the letter was a practical joke by my aunt Sheila… but I'm rambling and should change the subject. It's not nice to go on about yourself and your family." Adam smirked at Draco while he said that. "So, are you two dating? You seemed pretty anxious to be left alone with this beautiful young lady here."

Malfoy seemed shocked.

"Me, date a mudblood? Are you completely mental? Do you not know who I am? Who my family is?"

"Can't say that I do. Neither of you have introduced yourselves yet, it is the only thing stopping me from transfiguring you into an angleworm for insulting such a lady. Mother always said you had to care for the less fortunate."

"I am Draco Malfoy, my father is Lucius Malfoy, Order of Merlin first class, a close friend of Cornelius Fudge our Minister of Magic and on the Board of Directors. I would like to see you try to hex me, you'll be expelled."

"Well, if you really want to see me succeed." Instantly Adam's wand was out and he was casting 'Petrificus Totalis'. "I am Adam Jeffery and my father is His Excellency, Major General Michael Jeffery, Governor-General of Australia, personal representative of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. I assure you that I will have you deported from England if you try to have me expelled from Hogwarts. 'Finite Incantatum'. Why don't you apologise to this young lady."

Draco still looked shocked though he now had a little fear mixed in.

"I am sorry Hermione. I am still getting used to my new view points and it may take a little longer reconcile the contradicting information. Please do not hold it against me, I am sure I will resolve this more quickly now that I am returning to school." Draco turned to Adam, his face blank. "I am sorry if I have given you any offense Adam. I am going through a hard time at the moment and I sometimes forget myself. It is no excuse and I am sorry."

Adam looked back to Hermione.

"Hermione, a wonderful name. 'A Winters Tale'?"

"In a manner of speaking. I was named for my maternal grandmother, she was named from the play. I am surprised you know it, most schools tend to teach 'Macbeth' or 'A Midsummers Night Dream'."

"My mother is a Shakespeare fan. Whenever a company would perform one of Shakespeare's play she would bully my father and I into watching it with her. I didn't require much persuasion, he was a masterful writer and my mother's happiness made it more then worthwhile."

"I can understand that well. My mother would like to watch classic movies with me at night. I was never a big fan of 'Gone with the Wind' at first but my mother would light up when I joined her and that would make the night most enjoyable."

Hermione agreed. She even had a wisp of wistfulness in her voice. 'The dreams when my mother would let me sit with her to watch anything were almost the best I ever had.'

"My father would bring me with him to watch light shows. Some wizards would conduct music with their wands whilst others would create patterns of colors similar to the effect of stained glass. The patterns would move to suit the story of music. My mother would brush my hair out of my eyes and point out the pictures she saw in the colors."

"It sounds like a wonderful experience. Do the shows play often Draco?"

"They are shown every couple of years for three months. Actually they are playing over Christmas this year. I could get you a ticket if you want, we could go together."

"That would be lovely. I had planned to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays, my parents are going to a retreat and I can't really go home."

Since she had left home Hermione had spent the summers and those holidays she could not bear staying at Hogwarts, sleeping at children shelters. Now that Hermione was 18 she could not stay at a children's shelter and she could not bear to stay at a women's shelter, they were overcrowded and depressing. She was depressed enough.

"It is unlikely that the Headmaster would allow you to leave Hogwarts for a night just to watch a show, it would be a liability to the school and dangerous with current events. Why don't you stay with me? I am renting a small house in Fairfield and would love to have you with me."

Adam offered. He was generous as well as funny and handsome, and he was obviously interested in her. This year really wouldn't be all that bad.

"I don't think that is a good idea Hermione, you have only known him for a few minutes, it would be dangerous."

Draco objected. He didn't like Adam at all and didn't want him to have anything that might make him happy.

"Well I have almost four months to prove my trustworthiness. We shouldn't talk of this anymore, it is almost time to put on our robes and I bet most of the younger ones are not paying any attention to the time at all."

Adam was very easy going. He hadn't expected the offer to be accepted immediately but fully expected to have Hermione's trust in ample time for Christmas. It was best to steer the conversation completely away and let her forget until a more convenient time.

"I wasn't paying attention myself. Come on Draco, we should change and go out to remind everyone."

Hermione was of course aware of the time but to Draco and Adam it wouldn't have been obvious or expected. She also didn't care about the other students but Draco would have expected her to care and it was always good to peek in on what the others were doing. She changed into her robes and pulled Draco with her so the Slytherins would be told. Adam stayed in the compartment and watched them, his customary smile slipping off his face instantly.


	8. Chapter seven

It's been a while but I didn't get my reviews. I am still looking for a beta, if you volunteer you get the chapter early and will get a vague idea of what will happen. I meant to make this longer but couldn't find a link to make it happen. Love you all. –Rachael.

**Simple Pleasures: Chapter Seven**

A odd saying in the muggle world is that lightning never hits the same place twice. Most don't see it as odd, it is simply a common warning told without thought to the meaning behind the words. That very thoughtlessness is what makes the very common odd, because most don't think of other possible meanings behind the literal concept that lightning does not hit the same spot on Earth twice. This by the way is not true because a flickering lightning strike is not a single bolt of lightning but several lightning bolts following the same exact path. The elusive meaning behind the never repeating lightning strike is that situations and specific circumstances never occur in the exact same way twice. Even the same superficial situation seen by different people will differ due to the state of mind of those different individuals. Basically the point is that no second is ever repeated and even if you do the exact same thing in a situation that you believe is exactly the same as a previous one in which you did that motion you are still not guaranteed the same result. Particularly in the wizarding world where not even the basic laws of physics will hold firm.

However the laws of physics were almost universal so there was always the possibility that there were some situations where the rules of human interactions in Britain were almost universal and Hermione could formulate some laws for herself to abide by which would allow her to maintain a semblance of control in whichever situation she happened to find herself in. A few years scouring the local library and Hermione had formed an elementary collection of laws which could enable her to maintain an advantage in most situations a seven year old would find herself in. By eleven those laws had been perfected and she could read anyone she observed for a semi-prolonged period of time and she knew the best role to play in order to have the chance to read those people whom she was interested in.

From the time that Hermione had received her Hogwarts letter she had prepared herself to enter this magical new world. Knowledge was power and so she had spent every cent she had earned and bartered for to collect as much knowledge as she could. Unlike most of her personality at Hogwarts, Hermione's love for Hogwarts: A History, was true. Interpretation was an essential skill and she learnt as much about Hogwarts by what was not said in the book as she had by what had been. She had asked the staff at Flourish and Botts about all of her teachers. She had catalogued in her mind what she needed more information about and she had contemplated her observations of her classmates in order to determine an appropriate character to represent.

It would not make sense to prove very confident. Confident people became leaders and leaders were scrutinised, she could not maintain a façade that would hold up under scrutiny for seven years in a boarding school with several boyfriends exchanging gossip. That also ruled out close friends who might befriend a timid muggleborn. That left obnoxious or over eager, obnoxious could back fire, it was always good to leave an escape root and few people would forgive a person a person who had deliberately insulted them almost daily for the past six years. Besides obnoxious works best on guys, there was an intimidation factor which was difficult to emulate without giving too much of your true personality away.

Hermione had decided on the enthusiastic over-achiever. The kind of girl that was earnest, transparent and eager to please for teachers. The kind of girl that was annoying, over bearing and a show off for her classmates, unbearable for more then a hour and a monster as a close friend. The kind of girl that would sit at a table in the library or common room buried under a pile of books and obviously too absorbed to hear what you were saying. The enthusiastic over-achiever would deflect attention from both students and teachers because they were so eager to be included and show what they know that they displayed their inner workings and required no more attention, just as she liked it.

The persona worked like a charm. Even after the run in with the troll that thrust Harry and Ron at her, she remained without undue attention. Every one focused on Harry with only a cursory glance at her. Harry told her about Dumbledore and by reading between the lines she could accommodate her character so the formidable wizard never doubted her and could even hold the same influence with the Headmaster that she had with the various other professors in Hogwarts barring the Potions Master. Hermione knew how Dumbledore thought just as he thought he knew how Hermione thoughts. It was really a let down.

The key to Dumbledore was that, like so many undefeated leaders, he had come to believe in his own myths and legends. He would never contemplate that an 18 year old young woman could defeat him. He played the eccentric old uncle so often that it had almost become his true personality and while the true powerful wizard did come to the surface, it was only when his precious Harry had been compromised. The Headmaster had forgotten to beware of the outlying players and focused on the central.

Albus Dumbledore did not use his power on people like Hermione. Why waste the energy and concentration? When Hermione and Dumbledore played the Headmaster would spare a tenth of his concentration on Hermione and concentrate the rest on his plans against Riddle. Hermione dealt with the smoke and ribbons, the cold readings and palour tricks, the vague remarks which left a lot of room for interpretations. Like the Apology that Hermione was to give to Harry in order to rebuild the Harry Potter support group and help Harry defeat the Dark Lord and actually pass the NEWT's.

Flashback 

"Allowances must be made for Harry. He has had a very hard time lately, he still hasn't dealt with the death of his Godfather, and your remarks will not have helped."

"I have had a hard time too, my parents have been fighting and I had to stay at home. My muggle friends won't talk to me and I didn't hear from Harry and Ron all summer. I was feeling so alone and Harry was so cold to me when I came up to him. All the isolation made me so angry at him and his remarks about Malfoy was the last straw. I didn't mean to yell at Harry, I really didn't, but Malfoy isn't a bad person and most of the people in that room would follow Harry's lead. Draco doesn't deserve to have all those people turn completely against them."

"You should have more control Miss Granger. You may be having trouble at home but that is no excuse for shouting at another student and making unfounded accusations about them. I am certain that your friends did not mean to ignore you and it is not an acceptable reason to behave in the manner that you did. I expect you to apologise to Harry before the opening feast."

End Flashback 

The regular person would not see the extraordinary level of choice that such an order represented. most would not even see that it was not an order but rather an expectation. Hermione of course would treat it as an order because it was expected of her and while she could simply say that she would not due to some slight, it would do little to further her cause.

The next aspect of the playing field was the words themselves. What was she to apologise for? The oblivious person would say for her words to Harry, but the inventive person would see that she could apologise for her thoughtlessness in pushing Harry down the stairs and still swear, after taking a vial of veritaserum, that she had done exactly as Professor Dumbledore had asked.

Finially there was the mode of delivery. Hermione had often wondered exactly how Professor Dumbledore could have amassed his reputation when he was so thoughtless. A letter from Hermione would likely be burnt when Harry was in his current temper. It could be written in invisible ink and never seen. It could be written in Braille, or shrunk to the size of a pea, or in a envelope addressed to her parents, the message could even be formed in leaves in a clearing of the Forbidden Forest. Hermione may be obliged to apologise to Harry, but Harry was not obliged to receive the apology. Since Hermione was rather sick of Harry's presence she was going to prolong this separation for as long as possible, while still living up to the Headmasters expectations of course.

As soon as Hermione had entered her empty compartment after being dismissed by Dumbledore, she had taken out a pen and paper and written a brusque apology which would no doubt be ripped to shreds the moment Harry had passed it around to be mocked by everyone in the compartment. She had then folded the note, written Harry's name on the outside, and sealed it so it could only be opened by Harry. The note was shoved in her pocket and Hermione had rested until Draco came in to disturb her. Now that the train was almost at Hogsmeade it was time to deliver the letter.

Hermione knocked on the doors and poked her head in warn everyone that they were close to the station. It was a very efficient way to gather intelligence. By the time she was three quarters down the train she knew that the rumors about the fight between herself and Harry had spread. It had escalated to the point where hexes had been thrown and it had taken Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore an hour to undo on the damage. Harry of course had won and the only reason Hermione had not been expelled was because Dumbledore was afraid the Death Eaters would try to kill Hermione and Harry would try to go after her. The school now hated Hermione and she could expect a few surprises in her mail again.

It made the delivery of her apologise a little more difficult. She had originally planned to have Colin Creevey deliver it for her, he was like Dobby, always willing to do anything in order to be near Harry Potter. Colin was no longer acknowledging her existence. It made things difficult but not impossible, something would happen or she would simply deliver herself. It would lower her deniability but her acting should be up to scratch and this was really a minor matter. Luckily footsteps sound behind her, incrediably soft compared to most students but still noticeable. Hermione assembled a look of surprise and waited.

"Hermione," She tensed and swirled around.

"Adam, you startled me."

"You seemed lost in thought. Is something wrong?"

He sounded concerned. He was also trying to simulate a closeness to her incredibly quickly. Judging by the time he entered her compartment, he should have heard the rumors about her and everyone who was not connected to the Death Eaters or the idiots in the ministry were always whole-heartedly on Professor Dumbledore's and Harry's side. Adam was meant to be in Hogwarts as a favor from the Headmaster and should definitely be against her.

Hermione bit her lip as she pondered this then answered.

"Well, you may not have heard but I was a close friend of Harry Potter and we got in a fight a few hours ago. He and Ron always sit in this carriage and I don't want to go in to remind them of the time. Harry probably hates me know and if I go in he is just going to yell and not hear a word I say anyway."

"Couldn't Draco go in. You and him seemed close, he would probably love to do something for you. Where is he anyway?"

"Draco and I aren't very close, we have a hate/hate relationship. That was just a one off conversation caused by too much stress, he ditched me after one carriage. Anyway, Draco was the cause of the fight and Harry hates him more then he hates Voldemort. Would you be able to tell everyone that we're close to Hogsmeade? Please?"

Hermione winced inside, she hated begging, even as a role.

"I would do anything for a pretty lady like yourself." Adam said with a small bow.

"In that case could you also give Harry this note? If I apologise early he may forgive me sooner. Harry and I have been friends since our first term here, I would hate for such a long friendship to end because of one stupid fight and a late apology."

"But of course dear lady. I live to serve you." Adam took the note and bowed again.

"If any one said that I would think they were mocking me. Thank you for doing this for me Adam. I'm just going to finish the rest of the carriages. Welcome to Hogwarts."

Hermione gave Adam a small hug and went to the next compartment. Adam looked at the note and tried to open it. Finding it was sealed he glared and gave a small flick of his hand and he note instantly went up in a blaze and was ash falling to the a mere second later. Replacing his smile again he knocked on the compartment door and waited for it to open.

The door was opened by Ginny whose eyes went wide in amazement.

"Hello, my name is Adam. I was asked to let everyone know that we will be arriving at the village soon."

"I'm Ginny and thank you. Are you new? I don't recognize you and a guy as handsome as you would be a legend at Hogwarts."

"Yes I am. I'm from Australia and am somewhat like an exchange student, only there was no exchanging."

Ron's voice came from inside the compartment.

"Ginny, who's at the door?"

"New guy, he had to tell us we're almost there and to get ready."

"I should go let everyone else know. It was a pleasure to meet you Ginny."

"And it was nice to meet you Adam. I'm sure I'll see you around. Oh, and if you want I can show you around tonight or tomorrow morning. It's easy to get lost around the castle and you can't everyone to steer you in the right direction."

"Thank you for the offer but I have already been assigned a guide. I am sure I will see you later Ginny."

"Bye Adam."

Adam turned around and left. It looked like it would be easier then expected to get to Hermione.


End file.
